Chinese electric car maker NIO slumps in U.S. debut

Sept 12 (Reuters) - Shares of Chinese electric carmaker NIO Inc fell as much as 15 percent in their market debut, a day after its IPO was priced at the lower end of its expected range.

Shares opened at $6 and fell to a low of $5.35, giving the company a market capitalization of $5.52 billion.

The company priced 160 million shares at $6.26 on Tuesday, just above the low end of its $6.25 to $8.25 target price range, raising $1 billion, dragged down by investor concerns about the prospects of chief competitor Tesla Inc.

The company, backed by Chinese tech heavyweight Tencent Holdings Ltd, is the third-biggest U.S. listing by a Chinese firm this year.

Reporting by Diptendu Lahiri in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj
Kalluvila